Proving that you can be naughty AND nice, 2007 was the year when Blake Riley became THE face of gay porn in all of its different incarnations.

Blake Riley's journey into the world of gay porn started just over a year ago. He was a cheerleader in Texas when an injury forced him to give up the sport that he was so fond of. Soon after that, he was contacted on myspace by both Randy Blue AND Chi Chi La Rue, both of which expressed interest in working with him. Blake responded affirmatively to both, but it was Randy who flew him out to Los Angeles and filmed his first scene.

That couldn't have come at a better time for Blake. The call came when Blake was actually homeless, living on the streets of Dallas. After his shoot for Randy, he was taken out to Palm Springs to shoot two movies back to back for Channel 1 Releasing, Knob Bobbin' for Chi Chi La Rue and Dive In Deep for Doug Jeffries. Everyone that worked with him couldn't get enough, and both companies expressed interest in signing him as an exclusive model. Rather than fight over him, Channel 1 and Randy Blue reached an agreement. Blake Riley made gay porn history by being the first dual exclusive: Channel 1/Rascal Video for DVD work and RandyBlue.com for Internet work. (That feat has since been duplicated by Jesse Santana, who is now a dual exclusive for Jet Set Men and Cockyboys.com.) He makes live appearances in behalf of both companies.

In fact, performing live is one of Blake's favorite parts of his job. "I love to dance, and I love to entertain. So anytime that I can get out there with the fans and talk to them and kind of get to know them a little better, and let them get to know me a little better is fun," he tells JUB. In fact, he made a splash at both the JUB launch party last year (when we went from a seasonal to bimonthly publication) and at the Rentboy.com Pool Party in Palm Springs this year. It wasn't long before Blake was able to fulfill a dream and move out to Los Angeles permanently.

Not only do the fans love him, but so does pretty much everyone that he works with. For example, the majority of guys that work for Randy Blue are straight. Blake is gay, but that is never an issue with any of the guys that he is paired with. According to Randy, "He's such a genuinely nice guy, he puts people at ease, he makes you laugh. He's just flirty with a big smile and people love that."

What's interesting is that when I interviewed Randy, Chi Chi, and Doug Jeffries about Blake, rather than talk about his ass (which is BY FAR one of the best in gay porn), they all spoke about what an amazing person he is on the inside. "What's really great about Blake, which I think is sometimes lost in translation, is when you bring someone to meet the fans and to perform for people, some people can exude an energy that is a little standoffish," Chi Chi explains, "There is a barrier there. Blake Riley is one of those kinds of boys that has NO barrier between him and the fans, and he LOVES the fans. He LOVES to perform, and that exudes from him. I think that people can really feel that." Doug Jeffries echoes that sentiment, "He's personable at signings. There are no limitations with him."

From a marketing perspective, everyone I spoke with loves how versatile Blake is, not just sexually, but with his look as well. "What's amazing is how he can transform," Doug Jeffries says. "Some other performers stick with one genre, but this one fits into everything really, really well." He looks just as comfortable in a twink movie like the upcoming Bottom Of The 9th: Little Big League III, as he is in a leather movie like Link: The eVolution (reviewed in this issue), as he is amongst the gay-for-pay straight fratboys on RandyBlue.com.

Offscreen, Blake is just as versatile, which can be quite surprising to potential suitors who want a piece of that famous ass. "When I used to hook up a lot and stuff like that, the guys seemed to automatically assume that they would get to fuck me, but that wasn't always the case, because I'm not that big of a bottom," he tells us. But at this point he is more into relationships than hooking up anyway.

After dating his fair share of fellow porn stars (like Sebastian Rivers, Josh Vaughn, Trevor Knight, and Christian Owen) he admits that being in a relationship with a well-known porn star can be challenging enough, but when BOTH boyfriends are porn stars, the lack of privacy makes things near-impossible, especially in image-conscious West Hollywood. "If you're seen with me or any other porn star, people are going to try and find out who you are. There are no secrets. There is no privacy," Blake explains, "I hate that aspect of it." But rather than bemoan the drawbacks of fame, Blake admits that is part and parcel of what he signed up for. "I want my personal life separate from my work life...but in West Hollywood that is impossible."

When asked who his favorite scene partner is, Blake says that for RandyBlue.com it was Braden Charron, and for Channel 1 it was Dean Campbell. When asked who he would like to work with, he gets exasperated. "Everyone I want to work with either works for another company, or is retired!" He lists Francesco D'Macho, Brian Hansen, and Shane Rollins as examples, but the one person he wants to work with that isn't retired, and not somebody else's exclusive, is Jordan Vaughn. "He's sexy," Blake declares.

When it comes to live gogo dancing gigs, whether it be alongside the other Channel 1 exclusives, or as one of the guys of RandyBlue.com, Blake loves dancing to dance music with vocals and melody. In fact, when he headlined recently at Chi Chi La Rue's Wednesday night club Dirty Deeds in Los Angeles, he danced to Paula Abdul's "My Love Is For Real," and performed a striptease in an Egyptian-style outfit, and demonstrated such creativity and showmanship, in addition to his sexiness, that it was extremely impressive.

"He's one of those kind of boys that I wish was there all the time, because you know that there is going to be a hard dick and a good performance," Chi Chi raves. "The first time that I directed him in Knob Bobbin' I was like, 'OK that boy's armpits and asshole need to be shown all the time.'" Randy agrees with that. "What you see is what you get, very genuinely sweet guy. He's got a huge heart and is very great to work with."

JUB congratulates Blake on the massive success that he achieved in 2007, and we look forward to future offerings from him and wish him only the best.